


thankful

by popnographic



Category: Free!
Genre: (well it's pre-birthday but... details), Birthday Sex, Fluff, M/M, Smut, Snark, lol idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-04 21:28:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5349149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popnographic/pseuds/popnographic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin approaches Rei about hanging out the coming Saturday, the day before Rei's birthday.</p><p><b>Written for Rei's birthday (Dec. 14).</b> Happy birthday, my (fictional) son.</p>
            </blockquote>





	thankful

**Rin-san** :

_Hey, do you have any plans this coming Saturday?_

 

Rei frowns at his phone in disbelief and shock, wondering why on earth Rin would ask him such a thing. They don’t hang out that much just the two of them—Rei doesn’t count the training sessions they had a while back, because they weren’t exactly _hanging out_ _—_ so maybe he’s asking several other people the same question. Rei just finds it odd that he’d be included in such activities.

 **You** :

_Hello, Rin-san! No, I do not. Why do you ask?_

The only thing he has to do that weekend is… well, turn a year older. His birthday is on Sunday, but Saturday is empty in his calendar, so it should be fine, whatever it is Rin may want. It doesn’t take long before he receives a reply, but the buzzing of his phone still scares Rei.

 **Rin-san** :

_Oh, great! Do you wanna come over? We could watch a film or something, and I could cook. Don’t worry, I can actually cook, unlike your captain. (Don’t tell him I said that.) So, my place at five?_

 

Rei laughs at that. He feels bad for Makoto, who’s tried so hard many times to get better at cooking, but always seems to fail. Poor Haruka is often the victim in these cases, either by having to help him put out the small fires Makoto causes, or by having to taste his food to see if it’s edible. Which it usually isn’t, Rei has heard from his vice-captain, and he’s secretly glad, in a strange way, that he and Makoto were never so close that he would be a potential victim to Makoto’s so-called cooking.

 **You** :

 _I would love to. I’m looking forward to it_.

 

And he is. He’s mostly curious, because this entire situation is so foreign to him. He wonders if he should’ve asked Rin if it’s just going to be the two of them, or if that should’ve been implied somehow. Either way, he decides to not ask, and just patiently waits for Saturday to roll around.

 

* * *

 

On Wednesday, Iwatobi are invited over to Samezuka for a joint practice and a race ‘for fun’ by Rin, and of course, Makoto accepts their invitation, and the five of them take the half hour long train ride over to Samezuka when everyone’s gotten out of their last class for the day. Rei finds himself oddly nervous about the joint practice for some reason, but he tries to not get too distracted by it. Thankfully, Nagisa does a great job at distracting him from it with his seemingly never-ending banter.

Rin greets them with a bright and wide grin when they walk into the pool area, and Momotarou shouts a ‘hey’ at them from the pool, only to be scolded by one of his upperclassmen afterwards about doing two things at once _again_.

“Sorry about that,” Rin says, his wide grin now a strained smile. “Still trying to train that guy to not be so goddamn excited all the time. He’s like a dog, really.”

Haruka snorts next to Makoto, and Rei covers his smile with his hand at Rin’s amusing description of his teammate.

Like during Splash Fest not too long ago, their race is a 200 m medley relay, with Makoto and Momotarou being the first two swimmers down in the pool, preparing for the start signal to go off. This time around, Rei is far more confident in his swimming, and feels like he might be able to give his butterfly rival a worthy race that he’ll hopefully help his team win.

Rei hears the start signal, and he watches Makoto and Momotarou dive backwards into the water, the cheering from Samezuka immediately exploding in the pool area. Nagisa gets up on the start block, putting on his goggles, and he, just like he always does, taunts poor Nitori seconds before Makoto slaps the tile, allowing Nagisa to continue the race. Nitori isn’t too far behind, and Rei sees he’s improved quite a lot since their last race.

“We’re a lot better than last time,” Rin says next to Rei, and he realises it’s their turn soon. Rei grins, feeling confident in himself and his teammates.

“As are we. I feel like I might not have to worry so much this time about possibly getting bitten by you, because I will most likely be too far ahead.”

“Cocky, aren’t we,” Rin replies. “We’ll see about that.”

Funnily enough, and something that _definitely_ inflates Rei’s ego to an almost dangerous level, Iwatobi ends up winning the race. Nagisa teases Rin for having been over-confident before the race began, and Rin just tells them to wait until ‘next time’, which won’t be too long, anyway.

 

* * *

 

Rei takes the train over to Rin’s house at half past four, and he’s outside Rin’s house by five minutes to five. He wonders if Rin thinks he’d be too early, and just stands outside scrolling through his phone to pass time. He doesn’t get to stand like that for very long before the door opens in front of him, and Rei nearly drops his phone.

“Rin-san!” he yelps, startled, and Rin greets him with a laugh and a smile.

“You were worried about being too early, weren’t you?”

Rei frowns. “Was it that obvious?”

“I saw you when you came, and then you looked at your wristwatch. It was _really_ obvious.”

“Were you sitting by the window waiting for me to arrive?”

Rin’s smile falters, and he instead mirrors Rei’s expression, except he’s blushing whilst frowning, while Rei is missing the blush. He finds it a little cute, but doesn’t say it.

“I wasn’t,” Rin denies, though Rei has his suspicions that it’s a blatant lie. “Are you going to come in or not?”

They walk inside, and Rei takes his shoes off in the hallway before Rin shows him into the living room, tells him to make himself at home, and briefly disappears into the kitchen.

“Food will be ready in about an hour,” Rin calls out to Rei. “We could play games before that if you want. It just has to stand and simmer for a bit.”

Rei’s ears perk up at the ‘simmer’ part. A stew? Hot pot? No, it isn’t hot pot season, and Rei hopes Rin isn’t crazy like his coach who served them hot pot in the middle of summer once. That is _definitely_ something Rei never wants to experience ever again.

“Okay,” he responds.

Rin comes back, and joins Rei in the living room. “So,” he says, stretching an arm out on the back of the couch behind Rei, “any game preferences?”

Rei breaks eye contact to let his eyes sweep over the shelf by the television where there’s quite a collection of video games. He never really played too many video games as a child, as his interests had always been elsewhere. Thanks to Nagisa, though, he _has_ played quite a variety of them by now, and chooses a racing game, because why wouldn’t he. He and Rin are friends, sure, but they’re also rivals, and he’s interested in seeing who’s best in _this_ field, as well.

Having originally mocked Rei for his lightweight character, Rin ends up losing their four course race, and Rei snickers, putting his controller down on the coffee table in front of him. Rin glares daggers at him, but then gets up from the couch.

“You win this time, Rei, but I’ll get my revenge.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Rei counters, and Rin snorts before he returns into the kitchen. Less than two minutes later, Rei is called into the kitchen, and he quite literally drops his jaw at the display on the kitchen table. Rin clears his throat, obviously embarrassed.

“It’s just food,“ Rin mutters. “But… take a seat.”

It doesn’t come as a surprise to Rei that Rin’s cooking is amazing. He must’ve obviously learnt _something_ while he lived in Australia, and Rei can imagine him having had to cook for himself and Gou every once in a while if their mother worked late or something. He doesn’t know much about their family life, but Rei feels like maybe he isn’t close enough to Rin to be entitled to doing that, so he refrains.

Their conversation isn’t stilted, though; they talk about all sorts of things that maybe they wouldn’t have talked about with the others around. It’s nice, and Rei feels like he really gets to know Rin on a different level than just an “occasional rival in the pool slash friend via Makoto, Nagisa and Haruka”. He usually feels like he’s one to talk too much, but thankfully, with Rin being outgoing and _very_ talkative, he feels like he might not need to hold back so much.

Rei feels something rub up against his foot under the table, and he nearly drops his chopsticks as he flinches. He looks under the table to find Rin’s foot there, having originally thought it was a cat, and when he looks up again, he doesn’t miss the mischievous glint in Rin’s eyes. He isn’t slow; he has a clue as to why it’s just the two of them here. And sure, it took him a while to realise, with the innocent set-up and all, but he returns the gesture, while keeping the conversation going, barely missing a beat.

“Well, Rin-san,” Rei says as he puts his chopsticks down, still trying to keep up a façade which to him just feels like he’s wearing a poorly made plastic mask, “as expected, your cooking is excellent. Thank you for dinner.”

“Oh, you’re welcome,” Rin replies, and there’s his foot again, slowly going up Rei’s leg. He fights the urge to bite down on his lower lip in sexual frustration that’s built up during the dinner and is now quietly bubbling beneath the surface. “How about dessert, or are you too full?”

Rei can’t help but snort; Rin has _always_ been full of ridiculous lines. This one strangely enough just makes him even more turned on, and he doesn’t know whether to be upset about that or not. “I thought you didn’t care for sweets, Rin-san.”

Rin’s eyes widen, and he immediately stands up from his chair and puts his hands up in front of him in slight panic. “That’s _—_ I’m sorry about that, okay? I didn’t want to upset you or anything, I just—“

“Rin-san, I was _joking_. I know what you meant,” Rei interrupts, getting up from his chair as well to approach Rin in an attempt to calm him down.

Rin stills, and slumps his shoulders, appearing relieved. “Oh. Well, goddamnit, Ryuugazaki, you made me lose my cool there.”

He barely has time to react before Rin shoves him up against the wall and captures his lips in a kiss. Rei gasps in surprise, but it takes him less than two seconds to kiss Rin back, and wrap his arms around Rin’s neck. Rin is a great kisser, and it makes Rei incredibly self-conscious. Not that he’d say he’s a bad kisser by any means, but Rin is just _really_ good.

Rei moans into Rin’s mouth and tilts his head back a little when Rin nibbles on his lower lip, letting a hand slide in and up under Rei’s shirt. The good thing about this is that they’re of the same height down to the centimetre, so there’s no need for either of them to stand on their toes or tilt their head down to reach better.

“Rin-san,” he says, slightly out of breath between kisses, “we probably shouldn’t do this in your kitchen.”

“Why not? It’s just the two of us. For several hours. Are you worried someone’s going to come home?”

He frowns. “Of course I am. That would be a terrible first impression to make on your mother. Not to mention if Gou-san were to come in.”

Rin rolls his eyes. “They won’t come home, but okay, fine. I guess a kitchen doesn’t really set the right kinda mood, anyway. You’ll pay for interrupting this, you know that, right?”

“Yes, yes, I know,” Rei laughs, and Rin takes his hand to lead him out of the kitchen. Rei wants to point out their plates and such are still on the table, but knows Rin would probably once again point out how he’s interrupting something, and decides against it.

 

* * *

 

Having half-hurried up the steps to the second floor, Rin nearly shoves Rei inside his room and shuts the door behind him before getting right back to where they’d stopped in the kitchen just a minute ago. Rei loves to see just how fired up and aroused Rin gets, not to mention feeling it against his leg, as Rin grinds up against him.

They move so fast Rei barely manages to keep up, but he likes the pace Rin has set for them, likes to see that Rin is as impatient as he is. Had this been a normal ‘candlelight dinner with roses all over the place’, he would’ve probably preferred them taking things slow and probably also making love (which is not something he intends on telling Rin, of course), but right now, Rei wants pure and raw sex. Thankfully, Rin seems to be on the same page.

He doesn’t mind that he’s the one on the receiving end, as he’s pretty sure this is Rin’s way of celebrating his birthday despite it being a day early. Rin might not have explicitly said it, but everything he’s done up until this point, everything he’s said and hasn’t said points to Rei being right in his assumptions.

Both having completely stripped down and haphazardly thrown their clothes in a corner, Rin fingers Rei while he’s still being pushed up against the wall, letting Rin kiss him along his neck, shudders when Rin lightly nibbles with his teeth on his skin along his collarbones, moans when he goes from one finger to two.

“Don’t come,” Rin murmurs against his neck. “I haven’t gotten to enjoy you yet.”

“I know,” Rei pants. “I’m… not going to, because I—I want you.”

Rin growls and pushes in again, which makes Rei moan loud, and he instinctively shoves his knuckles in between his teeth to bite down on them. Rin laughs a little.

“I told you we’re gonna be alone for a while, Rei. Besides, I wanna hear you.”

Rei whines through his nose, reluctantly taking his hand away from his mouth. “But your neighbours—”

“—wouldn’t be able to hear you even if you were to scream. It’s fine, okay?”

He relents, and Rin keeps going. The fingers on his right hand tangle and curl in Rin’s hair, and he slips his eyes shut, still trying to keep the volume of his moans down to the best of his abilities. Rin takes his fingers out before Rei once again has time to figure out what’s going on, but he knows it isn’t too soon. Rather, he’s glad that Rin wants to go further already, because he wants it probably even more than Rin does.

“Turn around,” Rin says suddenly, and Rei blinks in confusion, but does as he’s told. A few seconds pass where he’s just standing and staring at a pale blue wall, but then he feels Rin’s cock prod gently at his asshole, and he flinches in surprise.

“Oh,” he says.

“What did you think I was going to do? _Leave?_ ”

Rei laughs. “Of course not. I don’t see you as someone who would leave in the middle of something.”

“Damn right. Always follow through.”

When Rin slowly pushes in, Rei puts his hands up against the wall and hisses in pleasure. Rin plants a kiss on his shoulder, and Rei feels his stomach make a somersault.

“You doing okay?”

“Yes,” Rei replies. “Don’t stop.”

“Wasn’t planning on it unless you told me to.”

If Rei thought Rin was a great kisser, he obviously had yet to experience Rin in a sexual situation. Why he hasn’t hooked up with Rin before is beyond Rei, but he’s glad that it finally happened. While he hasn’t really felt anything romantically towards Rin before, he’s always found Rin very attractive, and he might or might not have tried to imagine what Rin would look like whilst not wearing a single thread on his body.

Well, now he knows.

Rin thrusts into him, hard, and Rei lets out another loud moan he doesn’t mean to allow get past his lips. He loves the feeling of Rin pressed up against his back, Rin’s hands on his hips and how his grip sometimes gets harder when he thrusts. The warm feeling of Rin’s hot breath hitting his shoulder, and then seconds later Rin leans down to put his forehead against said shoulder instead.

“Oh _fuck_ ,” Rin hisses, “you feel so _good_ , Rei.”

“As—as do you,” Rei stutters, feeling his knees getting weak. He isn’t going to let them give out just yet, though, as he has yet to reach climax. “Rin-san, harder… please.”

He gets as he wishes, and Rin slams into him with a borderline brutal force that makes Rei nearly knock his head against the wall in front of him. He absolutely loves it, though, and lets himself completely give into Rin and leave his inhibitions behind. _Just this once_ , he tries telling himself, but he knows he’ll want to do this with Rin again someday, and if he does, he’s pretty sure he won’t be _able_ to hold it in no matter how much he tries to.

Rei is so lost in the multiple sensations he’s feeling right now that he doesn’t notice Rin’s forehead no longer leaning against his shoulder, and then he’s very much startled when he feels sharp teeth sink into the skin there instead. He yelps out loud and turns his head so fast he fears his neck might break.

“Ouch! Rin-san?!” he says, glaring at the other who just _grins_ at him.

“Told you to watch out behind you, or you’d get bitten.”

Again, he has no time to react to it before Rin thrusts into him again relentlessly, and all Rei can do _—_ for now, he’s _not_ going to let this go—is let Rin fuck him against the wall until they reach climax. Which Rei is sadly the first to do (he knows Rin will tease him for it for several days), but Rin is only so far behind. Well, in this case that isn’t something Rei can be happy about, since he would’ve wanted to be the one to come last.

 

* * *

 

Rin pulls out, and Rei finally lets himself collapse onto the floor, panting hard, while Rin quickly disappears out of his sight to probably dispose of the condom. He returns to kiss Rei on the top of his head and readjust Rei’s glasses that he hadn’t even noticed had gone askew probably a long time ago.

“See, even if I’m behind you, I win,” Rin brags, and Rei blows a raspberry, rolling his eyes.

“You’re going to have to take responsibility if people see this thing I have on my shoulder now.”

Rin helps him up and guides him towards the bed instead, and then sits down with a shrug. “It’ll be fine. I mean, how often will you be showing yourself— oh. You mean at practice?”

“Yes! This is not beautiful and will definitely land me in a lot of trouble.”

Rin laughs, and leans against the shoulder on Rei that he didn’t bite. “Listen, I… I wanted it to be just the two of us because I wanted to— well first of all kinda celebrate your birthday. And I know you’re probably going to spend tomorrow with your family since that’s your actual birthday.”

Rei nods, and Rin fidgets a little—his nervousness something Rei finds really cute. “I also wanted to… thank you. Properly. I was going to say it that one night we were in the pool, but I was a coward.”

“What do you mean?”

But then he remembers how Rin had told him he owed Rei a favour, and when Rei asked him to specify, he’d just changed the subject instead.

“I never thanked you for what you did back then. I mean, I didn’t even know you, and I still treated you like shit. On top of that, I took your place in your first ever relay. Just because you wanted your teammates to swim with an ass like me.”

“You’re not— an ass, Rin-san,” Rei says softly. “You’re a great friend. To me, and to them as well.”

Rin huffs, and Rei detects a faint blush on his cheeks. He bites back a smile at that. “Still, I just… want to thank you. So thank you, Rei. I really don’t know how to repay the favour.”

“You already have, and I’m not just talking about you coaching me. It’s all in the past, anyway, and I don’t regret what I did. You deserved it.”

Rin groans and once again puts his forehead against Rei’s shoulder. “You always know when to say the most embarrassing things, and I can’t believe you can do that shit with a straight face.”

Rei laughs, shaking his head. “I mean it, though.”

* * *

 

Rei’s birthday is spent with his immediate family, and he gets far more presents than he ever would’ve expected. In the middle of it all, he receives a text message from Rin, and he finds his heartbeat speeding up a little as he reads it when his family are busy in a conversation.

 **Rin-san** :

_How’s the bite mark? Ha ha. I’m sorry, I WILL make it up to you. Happy birthday, Rei_ _._

Despite the first little bit, Rei fights back a smile as he types away his reply.

 **You** :

_Thankfully it’s winter. And I do expect you to, Rin-san. Thank you._

 

He hopes Rin will want to repay that favour pretty soon, because as much as he doesn’t want to admit it to anyone but himself, he finds himself already missing Rin.

**Author's Note:**

> [radiodread](http://radiodread.tumblr.com) @ tumblr


End file.
